I haven't been commenting on this simply because I wanted to see what others thought first - but it's probably been long enough. For one, I like a general idea of randomly generated gear - it was actually the core notion behind item generation for Ashes when Thalia and I had discussed that some time ago.
For implementation here however, I find myself wondering how that works. On a technical level, that means making a bunch of objects to load in, which will tend to be somewhat generic in nature since they will have to load in say, all level 15-25 zones. That would be roughly sixteen zones that hit that range. Are we talking about set items with set names with set stats (like in world of warcraft when you pull a specific 'green weapon' off of a bandit) - or something that loads and gets a range of stats that roll and get applied? I get the part about putting them on mobs randomly, I'm just a bit fuzzy on the statistical math behind the actual stats on the item.
To Thalia's question about gems - to a point they do sort of represent this option. Of course gem sizes can make lining up gems to gear a bit more problematic. On the surface however, the gems should be able to replicate random stat generation on the gear itself.
Or - are we saying that these randomly spawned pieces of gear are of higher quality than what the generic equipment in zones provide? Using the Warcraft analogy, are you proposing that the gear created by builders and seeded in the zones are the white/gray trash items, and these random drops are the green/blue/purples of the world?
From a balance standpoint, where does that place quest gear (or even gem scale gear) in that ecosystem - obviously customers are the top of that particular food chain but I am trying to understand this from a balance/implementation/usefulness standpoint when weighted against the current system. Hope that makes sense?